Category: Featured

Building Confidence in WCS from Within

How many of us as little kids covered our eyes and said “You can’t see me!” and really believed that because we couldn’t she them that they couldn’t see us? Of course we lost our innocence sometime after Santa wasn’t real any more and realized that the act of being seen has little to do with our own seeing. Regardless of dance level, we all have a little kid inside us that has his/her eyes covered while we are dancing. Sometimes in order to walk out on that dance floor, all we have is the hope that no one is watching. What if you could be building confidence nearly overnight?

This video contains my favorite whip the “Shotgun Whip” a very dynamic and technique rich pattern.

This pattern begins with a basic Starter step that ends in closed position. From this closed position you begin a closed tuck turn (1-2) that bumps the follower away from the leader at a 45º angle to the slot (3&4) and then shoots her past the leader and to (his) the left of the slot. The leader then steps his 5 perpendicular to the slot in opposition to the follower causing her to dance her 5&6 back to the center/slot.

The shotgun whip begins like a basic whip with a big set up on count 4 to “pump” her frame into an outside rotation (5-6). The final triple of the whip the leader uses his footwork to back the follower up returning her to the end of the slot. The video features a leader’s ronde extension which is not leadable. The follower may decide on her own to copy cat the leader and will fake her footwork to start the next pattern on the correct foot. As demonstrated the leader will have to use 3 triples (syncopation) in the next 6 count pattern to get his footwork back to the basic.

Mr. Jonathan has been teaching WCS and Country Two-Step for over a decade. His unique approach to teaching makes him a sought after dance coach. You can catch his 2-Step Class every Sunday from 6:00-6:45pm and his WCS class 6:45-7:30 at the Longfellow Club JoEllen in Wayland, Ma (524 Boston Post Rd)